Sunday, July 27, 2008

OnWednesday, July 23rd at 2:14pm, Grant and Nikki welcomedtheirfirst son intothisworld. Bo Declan Skelton weighed 3.77 kg and was 54cm long...or, for thoseofyouwhoare not as metriclyinclined - 8lbs, 5oz and 21inches.

Let me back up a little bit...onWednesday at 10am, Nikki biked to the hospital. Yes, youreadthatcorrectly, shebiked to the hospital (therearepictures!). It'sonlyabout 5min from her home, but still...rock star!

I went to visit onThursday...don'tthinkI'veever held a 1 dayold (maybemymom let me hold Kelkel rightaftershewasborn, but I doubt it). Bo is adorable and lookslike a mini-Grant.I'm glad you'rehere Bo...can'twait to watchyougrowup!!

It's hard to believe that almost a year has passed since my last home leave trip, but a few weeks ago I packed my bags and headed across the pond to Chicago, Wisconsin, and Washington DC. First stop was Chicago where my favorite sister Kelly was kind enough to host me for a few days. While there I was able to meet up with some good friends that I hadn't seen in quite a while....Olga and Ben (who I hadn't seen since our trip to Alaska a few years ago) and the Aliotos (who I hadn't seen since Jordan was only a few months old).

Though I sadly have no pictures it was also great to meet up with Kristen Stutz, who was by chance in Chicago for work that week, and Anisha, who has been slapping me upside the head since we met in summer school typing class the summer before freshaman year of high school.

Then it was off to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin to see my parents and enjoy the sunshine. When I arrived my request was to go to Friday night fish fry (a Wisconsin tradition) by boat and I was not disappointed as my parents, Bobby, Susan, Liz, Dave, and I headed to Gordy's by boat.

It was great to get up and ski in the morning and then spend my days sitting on the pier listing to all the Oakwood gossip.

Then it was off to DC! I was lucky enough to spend some quality time with Sophie Kim (and her parents Amie and Alex) whom I had not seen since she was 4 days old.

The following day I met Jeff for lunch at Matchbox, a newish restaurant in DC that is very "in" right now - it was fantastic! After spending the afternoon shopping in Georgetown, I met Kara at her office and we headed back to her an Chris's great new home! We met up with Elizabeth Setterlin for dinner at Clare and Don's Beach Shack. Kara always does better than me at restaurant recaps so check out her post on the place.

On Thursday I met Susan and Carla, friends who I used to work with in DC, for lunch at The Bistro and afterwards went into the office to say hi to everyone else. Then I was off to the Mall to meet Sheila at the Museum of Natural History to see the Butterfly Exhibit.After at drink at Zaytinya with Sheila to wait out a spur of the moment (and completely insane) thunderstorm, I headed back to Arlington to meet Stephanie for dinner at Lost Dog Cafe (oh, how I've missed Lost Dog....and Steph too!).

On Friday morning I got to meet Miss Ashley Grace Hurst...and see her mother Megan. Then it was up to Maryland to meet Aaron for a lovely lunch outside in Friendship Heights. Then I headed to Alexandria for a haircut with Stephen...is it weird that whenever I'm in DC I have Kara make me an appointment to get my haircut with my favorite hairstylist Stephen?? Then Sheila and I headed down to the Mall to watch Wake Forest beat UMass in CAN softball - GO DEACS!

We rounded out the day with some excellent sangria and Mexican food at El Paso Cafe in Arlington with Erin Norris. Finally, Sheila took me to Falls Church to finally get to see Stacey's new home - and it was worth the wait - adorable!

Saturday morning Stacey and I decided to pamper ourselves with manicures and pedicures followed by some shopping in Tysons...I went a little crazy with the shoe shopping, but with the dollar so low and sale season, can you really blame me? Plus, in my defense, my shoes get ruined on all the cobblestones over here :)

What a fantastic trip home...it was great to see so many friends! For those of you I didn't see, I hope you're doing well and hope to see you soon!!

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Another gorgeous day in Copenhagen and who wouldn't want to spend it relaxing in the park listening to some fantastic big band jazz?There were plenty of beer tents set up, but the Gammel Dansk ladies spent the afternoon passing out free shots of Gammel Dansk. Sarah and Gustavo soaked up the sun while Cecilia and Raimondas were engrossed in a discussion about modern art.

With many of my friends pregnant (congrats Amie, Nikki, Laura, Kristen) and many more who have little ones running around, baby names are a hot topic of conversation. There was recently an article in the Copenhagen Post (a newspaper that comes out once a week and summarizes the week's top stories in English) regarding Danish baby names.

Apparently there is an offical registar of approved baby names. According to the law parents must either choose one of the approved names or send a special application if they want a name that is not on the list. Also, if 25 people in Denmark have a particular name, then it is added to the register.

Interesting...so, I guess there will be no little girls named Æble (Apple) in Denmark :)

In the middle of the dark, dreary, damp days of the infamous (or at least infamous to me), you tend to forget how amazing the summers are. Long days, no humidity, plenty of parks, outdoor cafes, Jazz Fest, etc. After starting the morning with my favorite kickboxing class, I headed to the boutique shops on Nordre Frihavnsgade (a street in my neighborhood) to see if I could take advantage of the summer sale season. Unfortunately...or fortunately, depending on how you look at it...I was unsuccessful, but did end up getting a great new beach bag that I immediately put to use as Katie and I headed to Kongens Have to relax in the sun.Copenhagen Jazz Festival is going on right now - 10 days, 100s of Jazz musicians from around the world, venues all over the city - super fun. There were concerts going on throughout the afternoon in Kongens Have...the perfect backdrops as we laid out and soaked up the sun.

Saturday, July 5, 2008

What do Americanexpats in Copenhagen do onthe 4thofJuly? Threeofthem - Katie, Jason, and I - throw together a BBQ in the park. It was a gorgeousevening...weplayedKubb, tossedthefootball, grilled, and as allgoodAmericans do westuffedourselves.

Thoughthere is no trace ofgrahamcrackers in this country, roastingmarshmellowswas still prettytastey!

Weeven had sparklers ( they had beenon a desert at a dinner I was at last week and I "freaked out" exclaiming 'you have sparklers here??!!'). Theonly "trouble" withtheDanish summer is that it doesn'tgetdarkuntilaround 11pm and wewere a littleimpatient. A greatnight and a job well done by theorganizers!

Where can I go from your Spirit?Where can I flee from your presence?If I go up to the heavens,you are there;if I make my bed in the depths,you are there.If I rise on the wings of the dawn,if I settle on the far side of the sea,even there your hand will guide me,your right hand will hold me fast.Psalm 139:7-10